Improvement in recoil-obviators for ordnance



UNITED STATES IPA'JreN'r OFFICE SAMUEL F. HAWLEY, OF OONSTABLEVILLE, NEWYORK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,933, datedSeptember 12, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL F. HAWLEY, of Constableville, in the countyof Lewis and State of New York,have invented a new and ImprovedBecoil-Obviator for Cannon; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enableothers skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing forming part of this specication, in which-Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a cannon h avin g myimproved recoil-obviator. Fi g. 2 is a transverse section of the same onthe line c k, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention has for its object to prevent the recoil of cannon andheavy guns; and consists in the application to their muzzles ofcounter-recoil chambers, which receive the direct concussions of thecharges, and thereby counteract the ei'ect of the air rushing into thebarrels to fill the vacuum subsequent to explosion.

Ain the drawing represents the barrel of a cannon of suitableconstruction. Toits front end is, in suitable manner, secured anextension, B,which continues the bore of the gun and forms an annularchamber, a, around the bore. This chamber a is open at the back, as atb, but closed in front, as at d, and its inner wall is perforated, as isclearly shown in Fig. 2. The front d receives the concussion of thecharge which escapes from the vent b in rear, while the vacuum createdby the explosion is supplied, before the eii'ects of the concussion onthe front of the chamber is spent, through the same vent b, thuscounteracting the ordinary effect of, and causing the cannon to remainstationary after, an explosion. The annular chamber a may be divided upby a series of longitudinal ribs e e, which strengthens the extensionand are clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The recoil-obviator attachment to guns, consisting0i' the chamber a, open in rear and closed in front, and applied to themuzzle of the gun, substantially as herein shown and described.

SAMUEL F. HA'WLEY.

Witnesses:

S. A. JOHNSTON, EDWARD C. TnoMPsoN.

